- Demarche delivered after soldiers killed in Bajaur.
- Islamabad seeks action against TTP leadership.
- Pakistan warns of response to cross-border threats.
Pakistan summoned the Afghan mission and issued a strong demarche to the Afghan Taliban regime over the deadly terrorist attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district that martyred 11 Pakistan Army soldiers.
“Pakistan condemned in the strongest possible terms the vehicle-borne suicide terrorist attack, followed by a fire raid on Pakistan military and law enforcement agencies’ post in Bajaur, carried out by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Fitna al Khwarij),” stated a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.
The demarche followed the cowardly terrorist attack on a joint checkpost of the security forces and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) on February 16.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), at least 12 terrorists belonging to an India-backed proxy were killed while 11 security personnel embraced martyrdom in the attack.
The foreign office, in the demarche, conveyed serious concern that the TTP, whose leadership is based in Afghanistan, continues to operate with impunity from Afghan soil.
It was re-emphasised that Pakistan has repeatedly received assurances from the Afghan Taliban regime, but, regrettably, no visible or concrete action has followed.
The Afghan Taliban regime was told to take immediate, concrete, and verifiable measures against all terrorist groups operating from its territory, including their leadership, the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson said the Afghan Taliban regime was also categorically informed that Pakistan reserves the right to respond and eliminate any Khwarij belonging to the TTP along with their affiliates, wherever they are located, to ensure the safety of its soldiers, civilians and territorial boundaries.
Pakistan has experienced a rise in cross-border terrorist incidents since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021. The provinces of KP and Balochistan, which border Afghanistan, have been particularly affected by these attacks.
Earlier, ISPR Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, in his presser on January 6 this year, said that law enforcement agencies carried out 75,175 IBOs across the country in 2025.
Giving a breakdown, he said 14,658 IBOs were conducted in KP, 58,778 in Balochistan, while 1,739 operations took place in the rest of the country.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said that 5,397 terrorism incidents were reported nationwide during the last year. Of these, 3,811 incidents, he said, occurred in KP, 1,557 in Balochistan, and 29 incidents were reported in other parts of the country.
He said that 2,597 terrorists were killed during counterterror operations last year. While providing details of 10 major terror attacks across the country, he said that civilians and soft targets had been deliberately targeted, and Afghan militants were involved in all attacks.
